SILVER LAKE XC: Blue Eagles fly over Silver Lake

Saturday

Oct 15, 2016 at 6:00 AM

John Laverty has seen many more highs than lows as head coach of the Plymouth North cross country program for the last 22 years. One of the highest points personally for Laverty was achieved Tuesday afternoon when a pair of wins over Silver Lake gave Laverty career coaching wins #499 and #500.

David Wolcott dwolcott@wickedlocal.com @DavidWolcott1

KINGSTON - John Laverty has seen many more highs than lows as head coach of the Plymouth North cross country program for the last 22 years. One of the highest points personally for Laverty was achieved Tuesday afternoon when a pair of wins over Silver Lake gave Laverty career coaching wins #499 and #500.

The Plymouth North boys won 15-49, and the girls were victorious overt the Lady Lakers by the score of 15-50.

"It's an incredible feeling," said Laverty, who has picked up his wins coaching cross country as well as winter and spring track and field at Quincy, North Quincy, Bridgewater State and then Plymouth North. "I've been lucky enough to have some great runners over the years who've made me look like a good coach."

The mentor of the Plymouth North track program for the last three decades, Laverty said added experience continues to make him a better coach as the years go by.

"I learn new things about training and coaching every year," Laverty said. "The kids are getting better every year, and hopefully I'm getting better as a coach."

Plymouth North's boys and girls cross country teams were at their top speed against Silver Lake Tuesday on their home course at PCIS. Twenty-seven Blue Eagle runners established personal bests, and three athletes (junior Nick McNamee, freshman Pat Woomer and senior Sam Curtin) each set a record time for their grade levels.

The winning time posted by Curtin, 16 minutes 28 seconds, tied her with Class of 2016 graduate Jordan Callahan for the girls' school record on the 2.65-mile race course.

Plymouth North's Kate Fisher (17:02), Elizabeth Marshall (17:41), Grace Curtin (18:20), Shauna Riordan (18:35) and Ailish Husband (19:00) were the next five runners across the finish line. Silver Lake's first finisher, Emma Wick, came in seventh with a time of 19:19. Plymouth North's Ahna Mento finished eighth (19:43), Silver Lake's Lily Flaherty took ninth (19:52) and Plymouth North's Jocelyn Bailey filled out the top 10 with a finishing time of 20:20, a personal best for her.

The Blue Eagles were similarly dominant in the boys race, with McNamee cruising around the course in a winning time of 13:56. A flock of Eagles followed with Hunter Clark, Woomer, Matt Jenkins, Tommy Nguyen, Finn Lundy, Jack Payton, Colin Reynolds and then Nate Schneider taking the next eight finishing spots. Silver Lake's Zak Michaud rounded out the top 10.

Silver Lake's Logan Arendt came in 11th and some of the Lakers following him included Jacob Belcher (18th), Riley Hay (23rd), John McCarthy (24th), Ethan Levesque (26th) and Cross Boudreau placed 28th in the race.

Silver Lake travels to Whitman-Hanson on Tuesday.

Email the reporter at dwolcott@wickedlocal.com and follow him on Twitter, @DavidWolcott1.